Struggle of Three
by frostmoon13
Summary: Touko is searching for her friend N, with no luck. N is wonders about his decision concerning his partner, Zekrom. Kyohei struggles to be more confident, like his sister. When Touko disappears, N and Kyohei team up to find her. Who is behind this? What will happen? How will this affect their relationships with each other?


prologue

A letter of challenge. Touko had received it a few days ago. It was from Touko's friend Iris, the unova region champion. Touko was reluctant to answer it. Iris never did anything without a reason.

She strode towards the mirror in her small room in Nuvema town. She took a look at her reflection in the mirror. It had been two years since her battle with N, and she had definitely changed. She had grown a few inches, and she had a slight tan. She had cut her hair, and the hair on the sides of her head was clasped in bronze hair were two braids on each side of her head pulled into her ponytail. Instead of her black vest and sleeveless shirt she wore a grey and dark blue snowboarding parka and a black sleeveless workout shirt. Instead of her jean cutoffs, she wore forest green cargo pants. Her combat boots were in her backpack. On her feet were cork sandals with leather straps.

Touko sighed, and flopped on the bed. Then a shadow loomed over her. She opened her eyes to see her partner serperior. He was holding a note in his mouth.

"what's up, Serperior? Is that for me?"

_It sure is. _he said, giving her his serious look.

Ever since Touko had been claimed as Reshiram's hero of truth, she could clearly hear the voices of all pokemon.

Touko picked it up.

The note was written in a flowing cursive script.

Touko squinted at it. The cursive writing was murder on her eyes. She had been diagnosed with dyslexia when she was a kid.

_Do you want me to read it for you?_ Serperior asked.

"No thanks." Touko sighed.

After struggling through the floating letters, Touko managed to get the message. "I await you at Giant Chase - no, Giant Chasm." she read. "Who could possibly-" she gasped. She recognised the handwriting . Rushing to her bag, Touko grabbed a note.

The paper was yellowed and folded like origami.

She opened the note and compared the handwriting. It was difficult with her dyslexia, but she confirmed it. They were exactly the same. No doubt about it.

N.

Touko hadn't seen her good friend N in two years.

Touko shot up. "Let's go, Serperior." she said determinedly. "Maybe I can get Reshiram to help." she thought.

_No._ she heard a voice in her head say._This is your quest, young one, not mine. _

_You never help._ Touko said. _Can't you at least get us there? _

_No, _was Reshiram's flat response.

_I'm worried about N. _Touko said. _Don't you ever get worried about Zekrom?_

_My brother and counterpart can take care of himself. _Reshiram said. _Besides, I have faith in your abilities, young one. _

_Fine,_ Touko huffed. _Have it your way._

It took Touko three hours by flight to get to the Giant Chasm. When she got to the cavern, there was no one there except a fainted Gigalith.

Touko gasped.

Rushing to it's side, Touko asked, _what happened to you?_

Then, something huge and heavy hit her square in the shoulders. Touko almost blacked out from the impact. It was the heaviest thing she'd ever held.

A yellow pair of eyes glinted in the darkness.

Struggling to stay conscious, Touko growled, "you."

A white and grey pokemon revealed itself. _Welcome, hero of truth. _It said. It's voice sounded like a knife being scraped against ice.

"Kyurem." Touko said.

_I'm glad you answered my summons quickly. _he smirked.

"You sent me that note?!"she shouted.

_Being a hollow being, I can sense a human's greatest desires. _he said calmly. _You desire to become the champion of the unova region. But most of all, you want to see your friend N again. You've spent the past two years looking for him. Isn't that cute._

"Shut up!" she yelled. "What do you have to gain by this?"

Kyurem shot ice at her. It hit her arms, freezing them to the rock. It was like being stabbed with a thousand knives.

Kyurem's almost expressionless face seemed to smile evilly. _For entertainment, why else?_

Half conscious from the weight, Touko shut her eyes and called, _Reshiram... Help..._

Chapter I

_three weeks later_

"Are you sure?" asked Kyohei.

"Yes." N said. "Your ideals have proved to be stronger than my own."

N's partner, Zekrom looked at him. _I will miss you N. _he said.

N tried to keep his voice from breaking. "I'll miss you too. Take good care of Kyohei."

Kyohei looked at N. "What are you going to do now, N?"

N sighed. "I think I'll go see the trainer I met two years ago."

" You mean your friend?" Kyohei asked.

N nodded.

About half a day later, N got to Nuvema town. It was smaller than he'd expected. He hoped that Touko hadn't moved since he'd learned where she was from. He walked to a house in the centre of town. He took a deep breath and knocked on the door.

A woman in her mid thirties opened the door and said, "Hello young man. What can I do for you?" N guessed she was Touko's mother.

"Is Touko home?" he asked.

A shadow passed across her face.

"No." she said. "She left three weeks ago and hasn't come back yet. Not that that's an odd thing. She disappears for a fortnight or a month and then I hear from her."

N nodded. "Do you know where she is now?"

Touko's mom pursed her lips. "No. Who are you?"

"A friend." N said. "we battled a few times and I was wondering if she wanted to battle me again."

"I'm sorry." she said. "Touko's never around. She's usually wandering the unova region. She's looking for someone. His name's N, I think."

N felt touched. Touko had been looking for him for the past two years.

"I'll tell her you came, though." Touko's mom said. "What's your name?"

"Harmonia." N said, giving his last name. "Thank you, ma'am."

Kyohei was troubled. He couldn't shake the uncomfortable feeling that something was horribly wrong. He looked at Zekrom, who didn't seem extremely happy. "I'm sorry I can't understand you." he said to Zekrom.

Zekrom gave him a look as if to say, "_I understand."_

Kyohei picked up his Xtransceiver. He powered it up and called his sister.

Her eyes lit up when she saw him. "Hi, Kyohei." she said cheerily. "How's your journey going?" "It's fine, Mei." he said. "But, I can't shake this feeling that something's wrong. I don't know what to do."

Mei's blue eyes were filled with concern. "I know you'll do what's right, Kyohei." she said. "Trust your judgement. Good luck."

Kyohei nodded, feeling more confident. "Thanks, Mei. Good luck on your next video shoot." He sighed. He loved his sister.

She'd always been the confident one.

He always called her when he was in trouble or felt uncertain about something. He had chosen the path of a pokemon trainer, while Mei had turned to acting after she got her second gym badge.

Kyohei looked at Zekrom. "You miss N, don't you?" he said.

Zekrom didn't answer. Then, he perked up and started sniffing the air. "What's wrong?" Kyohei asked. Then, without warning, Zekrom picked Kyohei up by the collar, tossed him on his back, and took off into the horizon.

In the cavern of the Giant Chasm, Touko struggled under her burden. It felt like all the bones in her spine were being fused together. She felt so weak. She wished she hadn't put Serperior in his pokeball before she got there.

Then, maybe she could have put up a fight.

Kyurem stood over her. He was holding a cup with a reddish purple liquid. He stuck the straw in her mouth. _It's a drink that will satisfy your hunger for a while._ he said.

Touko hadn't eaten anything in weeks.

Kyurem touched her chin with his claw. _It must be so painful._ he cooed unsympathetically. _It's a shame that no one will miss you for a long while, with your constant wandering._

Touko's eyes snapped open. She bit Kyurem's clawed hand.

He shook her free and slashed her chest.

Touko's vision blurred. Her burden seemed to double in weight.

_Now, now._ Kyurem chided. _You humans created a perfect saying for this sort of situation. Don't bite the hand that feeds you._ He turned away, chuckling, leaving Touko alone with a passed-out gigalith, an empty glass and a rock frozen to her shoulders.


End file.
